In the sky of the Valley of Mexico, a small plane named Mayan could be the beginning of a new era for cartography, urban planning and territorial justice in the country’s capital. Is called K’usam“swallow”, and although it seems poetic, its flight represents a scientific revolution.
“We are facing a tool that will allow us to see the city with different eyes—from above, but also towards the bottom—,” says representative Miriam Saldaña Cháirez, promoter of an aerial survey carried out by the UNAM being incorporated into the General Development Plan of Mexico City towards 2040, whose public consultation was called to take place between November 10, 2025 and January 10, 2026.
Developed by the UNAM Institute of Geography, the K’usam is a Cessna F-06 equipped with LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, capable of emitting 2.7 million readings per second. “Every flight is a scientific expedition,” says Saldaña. The laser system allows the terrain to be modeled with precision to the centimeter, even penetrating the vegetation to reveal what is hidden beneath it: slopes, cracks, channels and structures that may represent risks or solutions.
In comparison, the latest INEGI LIDAR model for the capital dates back to 2007 and has a resolution twenty times lower, says Saldaña Cháirez. “The city has changed radically in these years. We need a new map, not only to know where we are, but to decide where we are going,” explains the legislator.
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A new reading of the territory
In this sense, K’usam will allow updating the urban cadastre, identifying areas of subsidence or landslides and offering precise information for the CDMX Risk Atlas. Three-dimensional data would become an essential input for architects, engineers, urban planners and sustainability specialists.
“Knowledge must be public. When it is shared, prevention multiplies,” emphasizes Saldaña Cháirez. Its proposal goes beyond diagnosis: it seeks to ensure that the information collected serves to rethink the city’s relationship with water, one of the greatest emergencies of the 21st century.
The Valley of Mexico, remember, covers about 3,500 km². Scanning it completely—about 50 km by 70 km—will be a decisive step in understanding its water dynamics and underground structure. “In ancient times the Egyptians learned to measure the Nile. We have not yet learned to manage the water that falls to us from the sky,” he reflects.
According to estimates from the Institute of Geography, the capital consumes 50 cubic meters of water per second, but only 20 are recharged naturally. For this reason, Saldaña has proposed converting disused wells into absorption wells, taking advantage of existing drilling.
“The deep drainage receives 98% of rainwater and 2% of residual water. It is not about stopping sending water to the Hidalgo countryside, but about managing it with intelligence and equity,” he points out. Its vision is that of a resilient city, capable of regenerating its aquatic ecosystems, controlling floods and lowering its temperature by up to two degrees thanks to a storm drainage network and regulatory vessels converted into public parks.
“We all need recreation to be productive. If we give space, life recovers: fish, birds, vegetation. Ecological resilience is also social,” says Saldaña Cháirez.
He also insists that geotechnology should not remain in laboratories. It proposes that the digital atlas with three-dimensional modeling be open access and serve as the basis for every public and private decision: from hydraulic works to real estate developments.
“The collapse of the city is irreversible, but the way we inhabit it can be transformed. K’usam is not just a plane; it is a look at the future,” he concludes.
If the swallows announce the changes of season, K’usam could be the warning of a new era: one in which Mexico City, finally, learns to see itself from the air to plan its destiny from the ground.
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